James Harling drives a truck, works as a part-time bartender in Sin City and last year made less than $40,000. He's also a very big dreamer, a prerequisite for what he plans to attempt. So is Israel Rodriguez, a bingo-caller and former street brawler from Fort Worth. Vince Cook, from Los Angeles, is a 42-year-old comedian. John McCann, a retired New York City police detective, owns a successful limo service.

Myron James, 19, is an Arizona college student who is writing a book on math principles. Anthony Torres? The ex-Marine from Costa Rica works for an offshore gambling service. Then there is Frank Yates.

The 5-9, 315-pound auto trader drove more than 1,000 miles from his home during the weekend, a 15-hour trek that he hoped might lead to 15 minutes of fame and a possible $1 million prize — if he could only make the first round of cuts for The Contender, NBC's new boxing-based reality show.

Yates' reality turned out to be something he didn't want to face when his one-round ring audition was KO'd. "My blood pressure's high today, so they won't let me in the ring," he said despondently. "My real goal is to fight Butterbean."

For the last two months, producers have crisscrossed the nation searching for the right mix of boxing ability and story line. Las Vegas is the last stop before the culling reduces the field to about 60. Ultimately, 16 will be selected for a series of five-round fights that will be taped.

The finale, expected to be a 10-rounder, will be shown live on prime time and probably from Caesars Palace, said executive producer Bruce Beresford-Redman.

"Obviously, the people on Survivor really haven't been shipwrecked, and for those in The Apprentice it's an unnatural situation to live together when you're competing for a job from Donald Trump," he said of producer Mark Burnett's two reality hits. "And you don't generally have 16 guys living together and stuck in the same building where they're going to fight. But what they do with that is real and authentic."

That is why, said casting director Prentiss Byrd, "We're looking for an individual, probably in the 154- to 160-pound range, who has the class of a Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns or Marvin Hagler, so that when the bell rings and the lights shine, they star. But at the end of the day, you have to be a good fighter and you have to have a good story."

Saturday, a long line weaved through the Richard Steele Boxing Club.

"Look at these people, all these unknowns," marveled Hall of Fame fighter Sugar Ray Leonard, who will co-host the show with Sylvester Stallone. "The majority of them will fall by the wayside, but it's their chance. They're with their families and loved ones. Their struggles will help sell the show. It's refreshing for the sport."

Talent scout Frank Stallone, a former amateur fighter and a brother of You Know Who, gazed at his stopwatch and shook his head while watching two young pugs crudely slug it out. "We had one guy in Boston, he called himself 'The Italian Assassin,' " Stallone recalled. "No fights, but 300 rumbles in the streets. His mother made his trunks and stitched on 'The Contender.' He couldn't last three minutes."

Some, like Tim Coleman, a teenage junior welterweight from Las Vegas, are pragmatic: "The million dollars would be great, too, seeing as though I don't currently have a job or a dependable car with air conditioning," he said.

David Cox, a 23-year-old electrical engineering major at the University of Colorado and a part-time peach farmer, did it on a lark. With crystal-blue eyes peering out from glasses, he looks anything but like a fighter. He has competed in one Tough Man contest.

"I'm a boxing fan and was cruising through the Internet and saw the tryouts," he said. "I said, 'That sounds cool, I'm going to try it.' But do I watch a lot of reality TV? No, I think it's retarded. My life's interesting enough where I don't need to watch TV to be entertained by other peoples' lives."

Others look (and sound) like real-life Rockys.

Jopino Scarcella, a 31-year-old hair stylist from Boston and the son of Italian immigrants, was one of them.

"They enjoy the concept that I can not only fix heads, but I break 'em," said the 5-8, 195-pound cruiserweight. He was jet-lagged from flying in late Friday evening, but he was well-versed regarding the audition process because he also showed up for casting calls in New York and his hometown.

In true Rocky fashion, he didn't neglect to pack his bags with clichés.

"QNWWNQ is my motto," he said. "Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit."

His reality: Because he's so heavy, he likely won't make the cut. So it's back to cutting hair.